Everybody learns from disaster

Mishaps would also be a good name for this post. But using the same title for every post gets old. And “Life” gets redundant.

I was getting sick of no sunshine and too much being cold, so I texted my mom, “Can I fly home next Saturday and just go to the beach? All day?” completely expecting she'd text me back a smile and something like, “don't you have to work?” Instead, she texted me back, “You're always welcome to come home. The direct Friday night and then Sunday morning?”

I texted Brid. She'd want to go. We texted each other all morning Friday about how the random snow and wind was getting us even more excited about the beach. I left work and headed home, getting so excited about sand and sun.

And then my wave of the usual mishaps hit. We were going to leave at 2, Brid calls at 2:15 and says that she and our grandparents haven't left yet. We don't need to be out til 3, so I've got time to run errands. She's going to call when they leave Spanish Fork, 15 minutes away from me, so even if I'm in the middle of something, I'll have time to run home and still not keep them waiting for me.

Fat chance.

I ran to the bank to drop off some checks, realized I was starving and asked Brid what she wanted for lunch, and ran to Arby's (the girl works at Arby's, I don't know why she'd want to eat there, but I'm a fan, I won't argue). She wanted a soda, and her meal came with a really big one. Probably a normal size, but the cup holders in Krista's jeep are not very deep, so it looked enormous, and needless to say, didn't fit in the cup holder very well... So when I flew across three lanes of traffic to get into the turning lane I needed, the soda did not stay in the cup holder, but flew across my lap and hit the floor, exploding Pepsi all over my feet and the floor of the jeep. My feet are soaking in a Pepsi flood, as is the carpet of the jeep, and we're supposed to be going to the airport. Even if it were my jeep, I couldn't leave the Pepsi soaking all weekend, but what was I supposed to do with 20 minutes? I was pretty proud of my quick thinking. And a lot of years of learning how to clean dark fluids out of light carpet- thanks Dad and younger siblings. I ran to one of those car cleaning places with the car wash and the vacuums. I used the first cycle on the self-wash, using the wand to spray off the mat and floor of the inside of the jeep. Then, I reversed it to shopvac out everything as fast as I could. That floor was beautiful. And I really hope somebody else used the rest of that free car wash. I was so impressed that everything looked so good (and wasn't sticky), but didn't really have time to admire it. Or do the rest of the car, like I really would've loved. I should mention that in between rinsing and shopvac-ing, I get a text from Brid that says, “Remember how I was going to call you when we left? Oops. We're already on our way.” I'm racing back to my apartment, glad the jeep is clean but worried I'm not going to be fast enough. Everything I'm taking (my bag with my swimsuit and... toothbrush?) is sitting on my couch, ready to go, I just need to be there. So I run to the door, and the door's locked. Of course. I should probably mention the other thing in that bag besides my toothbrush and swimsuit is the key chain with my house key on it. I was going around the corner, no one else was home, I just didn't think I really needed them... of course, someone would come home and leave and lock the door in the time I was gone. Like this is her fault, ha. So I called the Foxwood office, not knowing if anyone is there, being completely unaware of their office hours or if they have anyone that will come unlock the door. I got lucky. I ran to the office, they have a key I can borrow for a second, I run back to my apartment and my sister is running to meet me. My grandparents only had to wait a minute or two, but really? With all that time I had? Good heavens...

(Don't worry. Still haven't told Krista this story ;)

We flew home, they wouldn't let us sit together, so I threw a note to Bridian and the guy next to her sat on it, the tiny white-haired old lady next to me was trying to force sandwiches down my throat and feed me the whole trip... you know. Uneventful.

We went driving around Friday night, Brid and Jada had a photo shoot in front of the Signature Grand while I rekindled my relationship with my longboard. We were out til 3 or so, then came home and, Brid and I still being on mountain daylight time and Jada wanting to stay up with us, it was well after 4 when we finally collapsed. Brid and I got up to be at the beach before 11, and we stayed til 3. We both fell asleep in the sand. We refused to bring sunblock, planning on being lobsters but knowing it would be worth the tan that stuck around afterwards. We didn't, however, account for the fact that we're not used to Florida sun anymore. Nor did we plan on my mom wanting to take family pictures when we got back. So we are tinted pink, closer to red, in those family photos. Unfortunately (or fortunately for my mother) the sunburn hadn't fully set in yet. As the night wore on, we turned darker shades of red. I started shaking from cases of chills about midnight. When we got up to go to the airport, I could barely walk. Brid, lucky duck, hasn't lived in Utah long enough to lose as much pigment. She burned, and while I still am sorry for how much pain she's in, she didn't burn like I did. I really wanted to be in sweats, didn't have any, really did not want to be in anything even sort of fitting, and the only person who had some in my house was my dad. Yes, my dad is 6''6 and 250 lbs. Yes, they are too long for him. Yes, I wore them. No, they didn't stay on throughout the day. Of course, we didn't just make the direct, but instead flew to Minneapolis and Denver and then Salt Lake. So I had to clutch the sweats with one hand all day. Brid and I were quite the sight. I sincerely apologize to anyone that knew us at those airports or anyone that might have wanted to know us (Luis, Ben...). I was a baby about it too, so the bag on my shoulder causing blisters was giving me reason to whine every step I took (see, it's over and I'm still whining!), I had my longboard hooked on one arm (my brother and I put a coat of linseed oil on it while I was home) and it was still a little oily, which got on everything, also giving me reason to complain, and I just all around hurt. The two of us had to laugh at each other when we realized we were down the other's throat about accidentally bumping the other person. It was a great/miserable day. I got home, soaked in aloe, and fell asleep.

After 11, 12, maybe 13 hours (I crashed at 6, I woke up at 7:30, but when you roll over onto a sunburn...), I still can barely walk. I look like a burn victim, and my face, of all things, is starting to blister. Ibuprofen and aloe went with me to work, in addition to the liter of water that was completely consumed in the first hour I was there. Yuck.

Overall, fantastic trip to the beach :) here's to the rest of the week, wretched peeling, and the next bottle of aloe.

(Mountain Daylight Time- there is a difference between Mountain Standard Time and Mountain Daylight Time. I had no idea. Huge fiasco at work involving this minute difference and our ignorance of this fact, so now, I'm educated. Please don't let this ever, ever happen to you.)